Priceless Recital

February 26, 1990|By TIM SMITH, Music Writer

Every now and then I feel terribly deprived because of all the legendary singers I never heard in person, from Caruso to Callas. And then another opportunity will arise to hear Leontyne Price, and I suddenly feel extremely fortunate.

That`s how it was again on Friday evening at Dade County Auditorium, where the soprano gave a recital presented by the Concert Association of Greater Miami. She was incredible enough two seasons ago in a West Palm Beach performance; this one was even more special. From beginning to end, it was a riveting, uplifting, thrilling experience. I know -- that sounds awfully exaggerated and PR-ish. Well, you had to be there.

You had to see this incomparable diva enter the stage with more command than most royalty could muster. You had to feel the warmth and graciousness of her smile. And, above all, you had to hear her sing. You had to hear a soprano who turned 63 this month sing with more power and persuasion than a host of pseudo-opera stars half her age put together.

Somehow, Price has conquered time, as well as audiences. She knows how to husband her resources so imaginatively that even when she can`t do something as well as she once did, you don`t really notice it.

Most important, the soprano still gives her all. She does not glide along on listeners` fond memories or indulgences. What Price delivered on Friday is what Price delivered decades ago -- a uniquely rich voice complemented by a distinctive, highly personal style of interpretation.

With her longtime accompanist, David Garvey, in solid form at the piano, the soprano offered her standard mix of arias and songs. But there was nothing routine in the delivery. The group of Strauss lieder, for example, was sung with exquisite nuance, from the ravishing tones that heated up Zueignung and delicate phrasing of Standchen to the electrifying intensity of Ich liebe dich.

And the soprano easily shifted into the misty style of Duparc`s melancholy songs, caressing each with a velvety timbre.

Lee Hoiby`s The Serpent invariably inspires an amusing display of personality and vocal resources from Price; it did so here. (The climactic line, ``I`m serious about my singing career,`` might as well be her motto.)

But where the recital became positively overwhelming was in the arias she chose, including a caressingly sung Io son l`umile ancella from Cilea`s Adriana Lecouvreur and an account of Elettra`s crazed outburst from the finale of Mozart`s Idomeneo that, even allowing for a loss of brilliance at the top of the voice, was downright spectacular.

To Pace, pace mio Dio from Verdi`s La forza del destino, Price brought striking emotional involvement and much of her famed vocal bloom. (She may have retired from the opera stage, but the stage is still very much a part of her.)

Things heated up even more when, for the second of three encores (dedicated to impresaria Judy Drucker), the soprano charged into Tu, tu! Piccolo Iddio from the last scene of Puccini`s Madama Butterfly. Folks, there is no point in trying to describe the performance. Suffice it to say, it went straight not just to the heart, but to the very soul, of the character. (It went straight to my tear ducts, too.)

The evening also contained some stirring spirituals and a poignant Summertime. Whenever Price sings that Gershwin tune, I`m convinced everyone else should be prohibited from doing so.